Presidential Trivia Answers (Oct. 18 & 19)

Thanks for playing!

(1) QUESTION: Which presidential couples have celebrated a 50-year anniversary?

ANSWER: The Carters, Bushes (41), Fords, Adams, Trumans, Nixons, Eisenhowers, Reagans, and Quincy Adams.  This week’s post about the Trumans’ love story is here.

(2) QUESTION: Which presidential marriage was the shortest?

ANSWER: Theodore Roosevelt’s first marriage. The marriage lasted about 3½ years because his wife, Alice, passed away shortly after giving birth to their first child. (Unfortunately, his mother also passed away on the same day.) Roosevelt was devastated. He drew a big X in his diary and wrote one line: “the light has gone out of my life.”

(3) QUESTION: You may know that the Carters and the Bushes hold the record for longest marriages in a first couple. Before Carter’s election, who held the record?

ANSWER: John and Abigail Adams. They were married for 54 years. A pretty long run in the 1700s/1800s, when life expectancies were shorter.